Ballymore Stadium

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Ballymore Stadium
Ballymore
Ballymore Stadium
Location91 Clyde Road, Herston, Brisbane, Queensland 4006
Coordinates 27°26′31″S153°1′4″E / 27.44194°S 153.01778°E / -27.44194; 153.01778
Owner Queensland Rugby Union [1]
OperatorQueensland Rugby Union [1]
Capacity 8,000 [2]
Field shapeRectangular
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Opened1966;59 years ago (1966)
Renovated2021–2023
Years active1966–2020; 2023–present [3]
Construction cost A$31.5 million (2021 renovation) [3] [4]
Architect Blight Rayner Architecture (2021 renovation) [5]
BuilderBuildcorp (2021 renovation) [5]
Project managerRPS (2021 renovation) [5]
Tenants
Super Rugby AUS

Queensland Reds (2025–present)

A-League Women

Brisbane Roar (2023–present)

Other
Australia women's rugby union team (select matches)
Website
ballymorestadium.com.au

Ballymore Stadium, known simply as Ballymore, is a rectangular stadium located in the Brisbane suburb of Herston in the Australian state of Queensland. It is the headquarters of the Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) and the Australia women's national rugby union team, and is currently host to the Brisbane Roar Women's soccer team, and the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby AUS. The Ballymore site also hosts several rectangular pitch's as well as the National Rugby Training Centre (NRTC), a state-of-the-art training facility.

Contents

History

The Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) set up its headquarters at Ballymore in 1966 under a deed of grant from the Queensland state government. The first club game played at the new site was a match between Teachers and Wests. The QRU moved in February 1967. In March of the following year Ballymore's grandstand was officially opened. The QRU was given the ownership and management of the site under the Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) in 1973. [1] The Eastern Stand was opened on 21 June 1992. The ground exceeded capacity in 1993 when 26,000 watched the Wallabies play South Africa. A year later the first match under lights was played at the ground. Today the grandstand is known as the McLean Stand (named in 1982 after the McLean family). [6] The Eastern stand is known as the Bank of Queensland (BOQ) stand.

The Queensland Reds played their home matches at Ballymore from 1967 until 2005. [7] Their Super Rugby matches were moved to Lang Park for the 2006 season but they still played their home games in the 2006 Australian Provincial Championship at Ballymore. The stadium also hosted the Ballymore Tornadoes during the only season of the Australian Rugby Championship (ARC) in 2007.

Field hockey, an event in the Summer Olympics, is expected to be hosted at Ballymore Stadium during the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane. In a 2018 report entitled "Stadium Taskforce Report", [1] the Queensland state government declared Ballymore Stadium not suitable for a major stadium facility because it doesn't meet modern access standards. Instead, the Taskforce believes Ballymore is better suited for training, local club use, and administration for rugby and similar sports, rather than for hosting large-scale events. [1]

Present use

Though the Reds have since moved out of Ballymore to Suncorp Stadium, which has a greater capacity, Ballymore is still the host to many rugby union matches. The Queensland Premier Rugby finals are held at the ground, and Queensland XV and off-season matches for the Reds are also played at Ballymore. From 2014 until 2019, Brisbane City held its home National Rugby Championship matches at the stadium.

The QRU has plans to redevelop the site to include a high performance centre comprising advanced sports medicine and training facilities, a gymnasium and aquatic facilities, as well as on-site accommodation for visiting teams, with Brisbane firm Blight Rayner as architects for the project. [8]

Ballymore was the planned home venue for Brisbane City's failed bid to join the A-League. [9] In November 2018, a planned friendly football match between South Korea and Uzbekistan had to be moved to QSAC due to the poor state of the pitch. [10]

In February 2021 demolition and construction works commenced on the stadium and surrounding precinct, to allow for the creation of the National Rugby Training Centre. The McLean Stand was demolished in February 2021, and will be replaced by the indoor training centre which includes a new grandstand capable of seating 3010 spectators, and also features corporate facilities, a 700 square-metre gym, rehabilitation areas, a 75-seat auditorium, a 120-seat function room, changing rooms and offices. A second rugby field with surrounding offices is included in the masterplan, though has not been constructed. [11] [12]

The National Rugby Training Centre (NRTC) will be the headquarters for the Australia women's national rugby union team (the Wallaroos) and a training site for the Queensland Reds men's, women's and academy teams.

1987 Rugby World Cup

Ballymore hosted five matches of the 1987 Rugby World Cup. These matches were:

DateCompetitionTeamScoreTeamAttendance
24 May 1987 1987 Rugby World Cup Pool 1 Japan  Flag of Japan.svg8–21Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4,000
31 May 1987 1987 Rugby World Cup Pool 1 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg47–12Flag of the United States.svg  United States 10,855
3 June 1987 1987 Rugby World Cup Pool 2 Ireland  IRFU flag.svg32–9Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 4,000
8 June 1987 1987 Rugby World Cup Quarter-final England  Flag of England.svg7–16Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 15,000
14 June 1987 1987 Rugby World Cup Semi-final New Zealand  Flag of New Zealand.svg49–6Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 22,576

Australia women's rugby matches

DateHomeScoreAwayAttendanceCompetitionRef.
14 July 2024 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg0–62Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 5,365 2024 Laurie O'Reilly Cup [13]
26 July 2025 Australia  Flag of Australia (converted).svg12–21Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales — 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup warm-up match [14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Stadium Taskforce Report | Final Report to the Minister for Housing and Public Works, Minister for Digital Technology and Minister for Sport" (PDF). sport.qld.gov.au. Queensland Government. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2025.
  2. ↑ Atfield, Cameron (9 March 2023). "Less is Ballymore: Capacity to be capped at 8000, short of Olympic needs". Brisbane Times . Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 Wenzel, Murray (29 June 2023). "Rebuilt Ballymore back in business as home of Wallaroos". The Queenslander . Archived from the original on 21 August 2025.
  4. ↑ "National Rugby Training Centre opens at Ballymore". statements.qld.gov.au. Department of the Premier and Cabinet. 29 June 2023. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Keniger, Michael (6 June 2024). "National Rugby Training Centre, Ballymore by Blight Rayner Architecture". Architecture Australia . Archived from the original on 6 June 2024.
  6. ↑ Meares, Peter (2002). Legends of Australian Sport: The Inside Story. University of Queensland Press. pp. 166–167. ISBN   9780702234101. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "The move to Suncorp from Ballymore". Queensland Rugby. 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Ballymore redevelopment: State Government's $15 million injection". The Courier Mail. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  9. ↑ Rugari, Vince (5 May 2017). "FC Brisbane City's bid to enter A-League has redevelopment of home ground Ballymore as a key proposal". Fox Sports Australia . Archived from the original on 9 June 2017.
  10. ↑ Atfield, Cameron (16 November 2018). "Poor pitch sees international switched from Ballymore to QSAC". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Ballymore redevelopment set to kick-off". Austadiums. 17 February 2021. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "Construction works begins at Ballymore". Austadiums. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  13. ↑ Pegan, Martin (14 July 2024). "Ruthless New Zealand heap more misery on Australia in women's rugby Test rout". Guardian Australia . Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 14 July 2024.
  14. ↑ Coleman-Phillips, Ceri (25 July 2025). "Wales beat Australia to claim first win under Lynn". BBC Sport . Ballymore Stadium: BBC. Archived from the original on 30 July 2025.
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